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MIAMI - With the acquisition of hundreds of tanks, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles, as well
as submarines and missile networks, Venezuela is arming itself at a speed unprecedented in the
history of the South American country.

Experts consulted by
El Nuevo Herald have said that Hugo Chavez has created unrest in the region with purchases
that total more than $15billion to expand his country's military.

"There have been important acquisitions in the country, but never of such magnitude," said
Carlos Julio Penaloza, former chief of the Unified Command of Venezuela's Armed Forces.

And it could end up being a lot more than $15 billion.

Some analysts said that the purchases made so far add up to about $30 billion, a figure Chavez
himself has said he wishes to spend to modernize the country's armed forces.

A report by the Association for Citizen Control for the Security and Defense of the Nation, a
Venezuelan nongovernmental organization, says the country has received or is about to receive a
long list of equipment and military installations supplied mostly by Russia, China and Spain.

The list includes 92 mid-size T-72B1V tanks, about 240 bulletproof infantry vehicles, nine
submarines, nearly 50 vessels of different sizes, dozens of Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighter jets, an
undetermined number of Chinese J-10 fighters, and close to a hundred Russian helicopters, a good
part of which were designed for combat operations.

The information also includes S-300 anti-airstrike missile systems, known by NATO as SA-20
Gargoyles, capable of following 100 objectives at the same time, including cruise missiles, while
trying to down six of them simultaneously from a distance of 125 miles.

Venezuela has also obtained commitments to build weapon plants in the country.

Washington has watched closely the purchases Venezuela has made in recent years. State
Department officials have expressed concerns to their Russian counterparts about the massive sales
of weapons to the South American country.